This invention relates to waterborne coatings having improved chemical resistance. Conventional latex paints are widely used because they provide low volatile organic compound emission and because they allow easier clean up than solvent borne coatings. However, when compared to solvent borne coating systems, typical latex coatings lack the chemical resistance provided by such solvent borne coatings.
It has now been found that latex coating compositions having superior chemical resistance can be produced by formulating a chemical coating comprising a binder resin having post crosslinking groups, an associative thickener having post crosslinking groups and an associative dispersant having post crosslinking groups. The crosslinking groups present in the polymer of the dispersant and/or the thickener can be adjusted, depending on the particular binder resin used, to optimize the desired performance properties of the coating composition. Specifically, a coating composition can be tailor made to have increased chemical resistance, corrosion resistance, humidity resistance and/or adhesion to a particular substrate by altering the levels of crosslinking on the binder, thickener and dispersant. The coating composition of the present invention may be ambient cured, oven cured or radiation cured.